Entwined by fate
by Jessieflower390
Summary: Isn't it obvious that Lily hates Potter? That is, until he becomes James. L/J pairings, expect lots of fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own anything you recognise.

Authors note: Hello and welcome to the first chapter of entwined by fate, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. So, let the L/J fluff commence.

**Chapter 1**

It was a typically tragic English autumn morning. Rain splattered the pavement despite the flurry of activity on platform 93/4. Lily Evans, already clad in her Hogwarts uniform, jogged towards the scarlet steam engine, dragging her battered trunk behind her. Drops of precipitation embedded themselves in her auburn locks, as the hem of her cloak soaked up the water residues from the ground. The redhead grunted as she pushed her trunk onto the train and hopped on afterwards, glad to finally be sheltered.

Lily Evans, for those who were unaware, is known as a well-respected and popular seventh year, with gracious good looks, deep emerald eyes and long, curly, auburn hair. That hadn't always been the case, there had been a time in her youth when she feared she would never fill out properly, and as such, her unique personality had escalated. For the most part, she was on friendly terms with the majority of the student population (disregarding the Slytherins, of course) despite being, notably, one of the biggest nerds to have ever passed through Hogwarts. All the varying components of her personality – which ranged from sweet to feisty - and years of slaving over severely graffitied library desks had earned her the position of head girl. She could not have been more honoured, and the badge took pride of place above her left breast.

Her letter had arrived a week ago, and through the many congratulatory parties her family had beseeched her to attend, there was one question which continually clouded her thoughts. Who had been granted the position of head boy? Who would be her colleague?

From the long list of seventh year males, she managed to whittle it down to just two; Sean O'Connor, who was previously a Ravenclaw prefect; and Remus Lupin, one of the infamous Marauders.

Yes. The Marauders. Four pathetic teenage boys with stupid ruffled hair and blatantly fake six packs, who took the liberty of investigating the tonsils of the majority of girls at Hogwarts, apart from Peter, whom Lily swore she saw eyeing up Mrs Norris late last year. To be fair, only two of the boys particularly grated on Lily, Sirius Black and James Potter. James Potter was annoying, deceiving, tactless, irresponsible, somehow clever and somewhat good looking but, in Lily's opinion, with an odd chin, hazel eyes and black hair. He was in the fantasies of every Hogwarts girl, except of course hers, and due to that he put on a show of complete infatuation, asking for her favour here, there and everywhere. Her loathing ran deep.

Sirius Black was a less annoying version of Potter but in a complete league of his own. He had single handedly destroyed the Hogwarts celibacy club. He had shoulder length black hair which most of the boys tried to imitate, grey eyes and a foul sense of humour. He seemed to really enjoy tormenting people, and though he was nearly seventeen, refused to act a day older than twelve. He, like Potter, was extraordinarily bright without studying at all, and would probably put more effort into planning his typical Halloween prank than he would for any of his NEWT exams. Lily really had no tolerance for such an egotistical, irritating child.

The third member of their group was the controversial Remus Lupin, who in definition was the polar opposite of Potter and Black. He was a quiet, law abiding (for his part), kind, honest, bright and gentle boy who seemed to solely exist to keep the free radicals Potter and Black in check. Although Remus did not know it, Lily knew he held a very dark secret, which she had figured out two years prior. Every month, when the full moon has risen, Remus transforms into a werewolf. Shocking, right? Her discovery of this caused her to re-assess his entire character, and she found that rather than fear, her heart was filled with pity for the boy whose life would never be normal. Perhaps having Remus as head boy wouldn't be too devastating.

Surprisingly, the fourth member, somehow, is the previously mentioned and exceedingly creepy Peter Pettrigrew, a mousey boy who rarely speaks but often grunts and once asked Lily how to spell his own surname.

These four males were going to be the bane of Lily Evans' existence this year, more so than normal, as she would have to keep them in check and punish them for their unconventional habits. This year Lily Evans was head girl, and the Marauders were about to feel her wrath.

Taking the handle of her trunk, she began to drag it towards her favourite compartment, excitement flowing through her at the thought of seeing her friends again.

Here at Hogwarts, Lily had become particularly close to two people, especially since her friendship with Severus Snape was terminated. Alice Prewett was her first acquaintance, and they soon became close friends after being sorted into the same house, Gryffindor. Lily and Alice were very alike, except it was often joked that, unlike Lily, Alice did not need anger management counselling. An unfavourable trait that seemed to crop up only in the presence of Potter. Alice was a little taller than the redhead, with cropped brown hair, deep chocolate eyes and an innocent smile. She wasn't particularly well known around the school, but Lily was drawn to her for her wit, logic and caring nature. Alice was always the last to judge, and the first to forgive. Lily didn't know if a nicer person could possibly exist.

Her other best friend was also in Gryffindor. Chloe Gilmore was slightly higher in the schools popularity hierarchy, she was beautiful, sporty and funny, but unlike Potter she didn't have an ego the size of Russia. She hated class, and preferred to spend her time flipping through fashion magazines, hoping one day she could open her own boutique in Diagon alley. She had beautiful, shining blonde hair that curled in the kind of way every girl wished for. Her cerulean blue eyes were deep and her skin was consistently tanned. These attributes caught the attention of many an eye, and she was very sought after by the Hogwarts male population. To Lily though, she would always be the clumsy, funny, whacky girl she had grown to be rather fond of.

Although they all had different characters, they merged together spectacularly, and had been the best of friends through thick and thin. Hogwarts simply wouldn't have been the same without these two. They had helped her through her issues with her sister, her dying friendship with Severus and the many frustrated tangents she had taken whilst ranting about Potter. In return, she had been there for their problems, always working as a team.

Lily slid the compartment door open, her hand imprinting on the pane, to be greeted by Alice and Chloe who were already seated across from one another, talking animatedly about their summer holidays.

"Lily!" Chloe screeched, jumping up and throwing her arms around the smaller girl. Alice stood and grinned over Chloe's shoulder.

"Hey girls." Lily said enthusiastically, detangling herself from Chloe and attempting to push her trunk onto the railings above their heads. Alice whipped out her wand and Lily's trunk flew into position. Ah, she had forgotten they could practise magic on the train.

"Thanks." Lily expressed with a smile, plopping onto a free seat, attempting to ring out her sopping hair.

"No problem!" Alice replied charmingly, replacing her wand in her back pocket and reclaiming her previous seat. Chloe kicked the compartment door and it slid closed noisily.

"Lily, it's so good to see you! Did you get my last letter? Mum said that if you wanted to come stay with us over th-" Chloe cut short, her eyes bulging as she caught sight of Lily's chest. A grin spread across her face. "Lils, why didn't you tell us?" She squealed, clapping her hands together, reminding Lily of a retarded seal. The corners of Lily's mouth twitched up in a smile.

"What?" Alice asked, perplexed, as Chloe continued to squeal. "What? What didn't Lily tell us? WHAT? TELL ME GOD DAMN IT!" She ranted impatiently, looking from Lily to Chloe as both girls grinned goofily at each other.

Lily turned to Alice. "I got head girl." She said simply. Alice's façade dramatically changed, causing Lily to laugh aloud. Chloe began a fabulous dialogue of how Lily could finally destroy all the Slytherins and began to ask whether or not she could borrow the privileges once in a while, but Alice interrupted gravely.

"Lily, that's great news and congratulations… but… well… I hate to be the one to tell you," She paused, her face anxious, "…but James got head boy." Alice finished tentatively, bracing herself for the worst. Lily felt her stomach drop.

Silence stole over the cabin. "What did you say?" Lily whispered finally, her emerald orbs wide.

Chloe and Alice gave each other a knowing look. "Well…" Alice began, swallowing hard. "You know my mother is quite close with James' mother?" Lily nodded. "Well she told my mum a couple of days ago that James got his letter through, he got head boy and quidditch captain."

Lily was silent for at least two minutes. "Er Lily?" Chloe asked, "I know silence is golden and all, but could you say something? Kinda making me nervous over here." Lily looked up at her friend, her face pale.

"Are you okay?" Alice questioned, worried about Lily's reaction. Usually she would be listening to a half an hour rant about 'Potter', but this silent version was totally new and to be honest, extremely unexpected.

"I…I…" Lily stammered, looking down at her hands. "Oh. I didn't even think Potter had a chance. I thought it would be Remus or Sean." She groaned, covering her face with her hands. "He's going to make my life a living hell isn't he? And I have to share a private common area with him." She gave them a watery look through the broken gaps between her fingers. "How am I going to cope?"

"Lily, don't overthink this. I know he's been an arse in the past, but maybe this responsibility will make him grow up a little…" Alice answered, patting her arm sympathetically.

"And look at it on the bright side," Chloe continued, "He didn't ask you out for the last three weeks of term last year, maybe he'll stop forever and you can just pretend he isn't there!"

"Not to mention we'll be in your common room all the time, and he's not going to want to hang out with a bunch of girls." Alice finished.

Lily sighed. "I suppose you're right. I just… I was so excited and yet again, Potter has found a way to ruin anything good going on in my life." She couldn't help but dread everything that she had been so eager to partake in, now she knew Potter was going to be there too, adding his stupid comments, undermining all her words, earning more detentions than he gave. Potter had always had this freaky obsession with her, and no matter what her friends said, him working and more importantly _living_ alone with her wasn't about the prescription he needed.

She checked her watch, half past ten. "I better be going to this head meeting before Potter's ego doubles and he tells all the prefects that they have to bow at his feet." She said with a sigh, standing and bidding her friends goodbye.

"Bye Lils, good luck!" They called after her. Luck, well, she definitely needed some of that.

* * *

><p>It was a perpetually beautiful autumn morning. Dew blanketed the mossy grass as rays of light filtered through the trees, causing the leaves to glow amber. The black lake remained oddly still and here and there finches whistled to one another causing a rather serene atmosphere.<p>

Sunlight streamed through the mucky window, reflecting shades of burgundy from the cascading curls of the library's sole occupant at such an early hour. Lily Evans was bent over a book, her milky fingers tracing the words as she whispered to herself. Somewhere outside, a lark began to sing.

Unbeknown to the redhead, James Potter studied her from his position behind the nearest bookshelf. It was common knowledge that James spent the majority of his spare time stalking, or as he liked to call it, observing, one Lily Evans. For the most part, this was true. He couldn't help himself, she was a magnet his eyes couldn't evade, a force his feet carried him toward. She was the sun, and he was the moon, so involved, so close, and yet so far.

He sighed deeply, running his fingers through his raven hair, making sure it was particularly ruffled, before sauntering over to the girl who held his affections. The marauders would never let him hear the end of it if they found out he had woken himself extra early on a Saturday simply to watch Lily study.

"Morning, Evans." He quipped, slipping languidly into the seat next to her, flashing her his signature lobsided grin.

She raised those beautifully entrancing emerald orbs to his face, and he took a moment to greedily take in the sight of them. For once they weren't narrowed in disgust or anger.

"Oh, Potter, you scared me." She replied casually, flipping a page.

"I'm sorry." He responded, in all seriousness, "It was not my intention. I simply couldn't help talking to a beautiful woman such as-" But before he could finish his sentence Lily had dived across the table, her arms flinging around his neck.

"LILY? WH-" But he could speak no more as her lips mashed against his fiercely. She pulled away all too soon. He clung to her torso.

"Lily... I..." He stammered. She shushed him, pushing the hair from his forehead soothingly.

"James Potter, I have something I need to tell you." She said, and he watched her, perplexed. Her hands moved to her shirt, slowly unbuttoning it. He could see the top of her white lacy bra, her ivory skin on show. "And something to show you..." She elaborated seductively. Only one more button and he'd be seeing all.

WHACK.

The image of Lily undressing dissolved instantly as his head throbbed with pain. "What in Merlin's name?" He grumbled, rolling over, releasing the pillow he had been squeezing.

"Prongs, get up, your mum's on moan patrol because apparently we're already ten minutes late for the train." A voice called. He sat up, rubbing his eyes groggily, the world around him blurry. He reached for his glasses from his nightstand. The figure of Sirius Black came into focus. He was positioned on the end of James' bed, pulling on a pair of odd socks. One of his black school shoes lay forgotten on James' pillow.

"Padfoot, must you be so brutal?" James asked, lobbing the shoe back to him and ripping back his sheets. "Honestly, some friends wake each other with breakfast in bed, perhaps a melodious lullaby, but with you it's a shoe to the head."

"Each to his own." Sirius retorted, pushing his arms through the sleeves of his school shirt, a cheeky smile dawning his facade. "But a shoe to the head gives a more instantaneous response."

James groaned at him. He had been so close to seeing Lily topless, didn't Sirius understand that? He'd have to have some serious one on one time with his right hand later.

"Mumsie said to meet her downstairs in five minutes. She's already packed our trunks for us, isn't that awesome? Wish my mother…" Sirius trailed off, his face as set as stone. James couldn't help but feel bad for his best friend. Sirius put on a good front, but James knew he was hurt by the situation with his parents. "Anyway, see you in five." Sirius concluded awkwardly, as he whisked from James' room.

James sighed and swung his legs out of the bed, his eyes wandering to the uniform hung religiously on the hook next to his door, all neatly ironed. The head boy and quidditch captain badges glinted at him merrily. He still couldn't believe he'd got head boy. Dumbledore must have been on some serious illegal substances when he decided that. Perhaps this is what he needed, a certain level of responsibility before he left school so he could reach that maturity status he so obviously lacked, according to Lily.

Ah, Lily. Not Evans, not Lillian, Lily. His Lily, or she would be soon enough. He just knew she had gotten head girl. He knew it. Every bone in his body told him so. Who else was more fitting for the position? Who else worked their socks off, became the best of the best, helped everyone and anyone to the best degree possible? Who else was absolutely bloody perfect?

He blinked and shook his head. Now was not the time for a twenty minute Lily fantasy, he could have that later tonight, in his new Hogwarts bed, knowing she was only fifty paces away from him.

* * *

><p>"Padfoot, Prongs!" A voice called as both Sirius and himself meandered their way through the hustle and bustle of platform 934, trying to find the other marauders. James craned his neck, even though he recognised the owners voice.

A sandy haired boy made his way towards them, a smaller stout boy in toe. "Remus." James greeted warmly, patting him on the shoulder. James gave him a once over. He seemed healthy, no new scars on his face, and he looked like he had eaten well during the summer. "You look well." He commented.

Remus grinned and sidestepped so that the smaller boy became visible. "Peter," James grinned, "we were just looking for you two. Come, let's get a compartment." He suggested, and the four boys braved the rain to jump onto the train. They were lucky, and the first compartment they checked was empty. They piled in miserably, already soaked to the skin, and fell lazily onto the padded seats.

"So Prongs, let's see the badge!" Peter exclaimed excitedly, "Ooo." He followed as James drew back his cloak to reveal the two badges, side by side.

"This is going to be a busy year for you Prongs, quidditch, head boy duties, and not to mention this is your last year to win over Evans." Sirius teased, taking a chocolate frog out of his pocket. He ripped it open and threw the wizarding card to Peter, who was forming a collection.

"Ah, Dumbledore, I've already got fourteen of him!" Peter said sullenly.

"I'm not going to try and win over Lily." James lied, the other three just stared at him, and when he started to feel uncomfortable he continued. "Well, as you said Padfoot, it's my last year here, I want to enjoy it as much as possible with the people who haven't repetitively kicked me when I'm down. Lily doesn't like me. She won't give me the chance to show her who I really am. She's never going to like me. It's her loss, really." And although he knew it was true, he couldn't help but still hope that this year everything would change. That this year she'd get to know him and realise he wasn't half bad.

Sirius began to choke on the leg of his chocolate frog, and Remus thumped him on the back.

"So you mean to tell me that you're going to be _living _with the girl, and yet you're not going to try it on?" Sirius asked, awestruck.

"Exactly Pads," James said, a feeling of melancholy settling over him, he had a plan. "I'm just going to get on with my life. Obviously being affectionate to her doesn't work, trying to impress her doesn't work, trying to annoy her doesn't work. I'm done with trying to figure her out. If she ever wants me then she can come to me." He finished dramatically.

"You know, I think that's actually a really good idea." Remus said pointedly, looking at James as though he'd never seen him before. James shrugged.

"You don't know what you've got till it's gone." Peter quoted wisely. James knew he was right, Lily just had to realise what she'd lost.

"She'll come round." Sirius dismissed, "Anyway, what are we going to do to the Slytherins at the feast? Any ideas? Because I was thinking of something including wax strips and a chinchilla."

The three looked at Sirius in disbelief. "Pray tell, what kind of prank could you possibly come up with that includes wax strips and a freaking chinchilla?" Remus dared to ask.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I think that's for me to know, and you to find out."

"You worry me at times." James said to Sirius, shaking his head jestingly. "How about we change all the food to taste like other things. Like, say for example Snively takes a big bite of, oh I don't know, gruel? Does he even eat that? And instead he gets a big taste of slime,"

"Or dung!" Peter interjected.

"I think that's lame." Sirius said haughtily.

"You're just jealous that you didn't come up with it." James responded loftily.

"Am not!" Sirius retorted, his eyes twinkling with mischief. After a twenty minute long debate in which Remus lost count of the number of 'Am not's' and 'Are too's' said, and Peter began to get whiplash from looking between James and Sirius and back again, Remus checked his watch. It was almost half past the hour.

"James." He interrupted them, "I think we should get off to the head meeting."

James agreed, a nervous lump forming in his throat at the thought of seeing Lily. He turned to Sirius, "This isn't over." He threatened, before leaving the compartment with Remus.

"ARE NOT!" Sirius bellowed before the door could slide to a close.

* * *

><p>Lily flexed her fingers nervously as she stood outside the compartment at the head of the train. The blinds were drawn from the inside, eluding to a certain amount of privacy in which the head meeting could commence. She unclenched her fists, air cooling the warm sweat. It was only Potter, she had handled him a million times before, and she would show her authority now.<p>

With a deep breath, she slid the door aside and stepped over the threshold. James and Remus were already present. Remus had a book in his hand, and appeared to be practising a charm movement with his wand. James was peering out of the mucky window, one of his feet resting on the seat across from him. His face turned towards her as she stood in the doorway. Instantly, he sat up, making himself more presentable.

"Lily." He said welcomingly. Not Evans, eh? She analysed his voice for any trace of sarcasm, but all she could detect was warmth. The sort of warmth you felt from a sip of butterbeer on a cold day. The effect made her shiver.

"P – James." She nodded curtly, returning the first name. "Remus." She added, taking the furthest seat from James and picking up the notes left there to instruct the two heads on what needed to be covered during the meeting. She flicked through them for lack of anything else to do, even though she was fully aware of the protocol for this meeting. She certainly didn't want to exchange pleasantries with Potter. She snuck a glance, he had gone back to looking out the window.

He seemed different. The warmth in his voice, even his posture had changed. He didn't reek of arrogance anymore. She frowned, a changed Potter was not what she had been expecting at all.

"Yes." Remus exclaimed violently, and both James and Lily looked toward him. "I did it, my wrist movement was all wrong, but I think I've got it down now." He smiled at Lily. "Perhaps you'll be able to instruct me this year, Lily, if I should find charms terribly hard again."

The corners of her mouth curved into a smile. "Of course, it has always been my pleasure."

Remus beamed at her. "Thank you, forgive my lack of courtesies, how was your summer?" She noticed James look over to her.

"Oh you know…" She said wearily. Truth be told she had had a cruddy summer. Petunia had been simply horrendous to live with, her parents didn't understand anything about the magical world, no matter how many times she told them, and Severus kept turning up in the most unexpected places. "The usual." She rounded off, congratulating herself on evading the subject. "How was yours?"

Remus shrugged. "Alright I suppose, did some camping and read up on the core subjects for this year to get ahead. Slightly boring if I'm being honest. I far prefer being at Hogwarts." Lily could certainly concur to that.

"And how about yours, James?" She asked, feeling rude if she excluded him from the conversation. He caught her gaze in genuine surprise. Lily was asking him about his holiday? Since when did she say anything to him that wasn't an insult?

"It was quite good actually." He replied, and Lily noticed that rich quality of his voice once more. She could listen to that forever, if it belonged to someone who wasn't Potter, that is. "Sirius moved into my house last summer, and so we spent the days playing quidditch and going hiking. My Dad even taught us how to fish." His eyes lit up. "I was pretty rubbish at it, though Sirius was remarkably good."

She smiled quaintly at him, although jealousy rumbled at the bottom of her stomach. How much would she pay to have Alice and Chloe live with her over summer, in a massive mansion with Merlin knows how many swimming pools. She kept her face straight. "Good, it's nice to hear you've had a pleasant summer." She said sweetly. The way she saw it, she'd have to spend a lot of time with the guy this year, she may as well try to be civil.

Just then the door slid open and a gang of prefects squeezed into the compartment. When Lily was sure they were all present, she started the meeting. It didn't go as expected at all. Instead of being a total arse, James kept interjecting with very useful snippets of information. He let Lily do the speaking, and only interrupted when she had forgotten to mention something. He didn't show off, he didn't make crude jokes, he didn't do anything to aggravate her. And of course that only resulted in aggravating her anyway. Why the hell did he have to go and change? They had this lovely dynamic of their love-hate relationship down.

She watched him wearily as the prefects filed out, muttering to themselves about James' transformation, no doubt. He had his back to her, neatening out the pile of papers and placing them back in the plastic wallet. He had achieved the impossible, Lily was genuinely curious about him, about the change, about everything.

"So what really happened this summer?" She asked, now they were alone, her tone even.

He spun around and looked at her, perplexed. "I already told you wha-"

She cut him off, her temper rising. "Oh come off it Potter, you're acting completely different, and I want to know why."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Nothing happened. I just decided it was time I start giving back to this school, I decided it was time I grow up, and in your precise words, gain an ounce of maturity. I want to be the best I can, Lily." He stressed her first name, and she felt guilty for using his surname once more. "Whether you can accept it or not, I've put my stupidity behind me. I'm not Potter anymore, I'm just James."

He made to leave the room, but paused, his hand gripping the door knob. "I know you're disappointed that I'm head boy, but I hope we can try and work well together, no matter how much you despise me." He said meekly, not daring to meet her eyes. She couldn't help but detect the venerability in his voice.

Her mouth fell agape. She was completely dumbfounded. By the time she'd thought of a reply, he had slid the door closed behind him. She collapsed onto the cushioned bench, her heart beating fiercely. He thought she despised him? She didn't particularly like him, she wasn't his biggest fan, but she didn't despise the boy. She stared at her own hazy reflection in the window, trying to work out how she felt about this new Potter. She'd always told him how to act, to grow up, but she never thought he'd actually do it, and now that he had, how was she supposed to act around him?

Potter had always been a constant in her life; he had always been the same, and he had always been there. No matter what shifted through the years, no matter what she lost or gained, he was always her perpetual equilibrium. Now she'd lost that and a part of her wanted to grieve for it. One thing was for sure, she had to talk to Chloe and Alice about this. They'd know what to do.

With a great effort she got to her feet. It was as though the emptiness left from the old Potter had been replaced with lead. Blinking back the emotion, she finally managed to make it out of the compartment. Students were buzzing around everywhere, talking merrily to eachother about their impending return to Hogwarts. She spotted the first two prefects doing their rounds of the corridor, and she waved to them, the smile not reaching her eyes.

Making her way down the long passage, she prayed the Marauders cabin wasn't before her own. She didn't need the opportunity to do or say something stupid in front of Potter and his gang of goonies. For the first time in all her years at Hogwarts, the heavens decided to side with her. She was in luck. No sight of the Marauders. She practically fell into her compartment in her desire to make haste and not run into them.

Alice and Chloe looked over at her with raised eyebrows as she plopped into the nearest free seat. Alice had a book open on her lap, and cornered the page in anticipation of what Lily would have to say about the prefects meeting. Chloe had been throwing a tennis ball in the air and catching it skilfully, but this too was ceased as Chloe cleared her throat.

"So?" She asked tentatively, unsure of Lily's mood, "How did it go?"

Lily blinked at her, not sure where to start. "Well, it was okay, better than I thought it was going to be, didn't go too much over time, lots of lovely prefects this year, apart from that one Slytherin girl with the bent nose, apart from that I had a-"

"Lily," Alice said with authority, "You're rambling, stop it, how did it go with _James_?" she asked, stressing his first name as though this would mean more to Lily, which it did.

Lily picked her words carefully. "He was, I don't know, he wasn't Potter anymore."

Chloe quirked one eyebrow as Alice shot her a worried glance. "So who was he? Sirius in disguise?" She asked exasperatedly.

Lily winced, "No, no it was Potter. But he's different, he's changed, he acted so grown up and mature – likable, even."

"Are you sure it wasn't one of his plots to try and get you to like him?" Alice asked. It was an honest question, James had done everything over the years to try and win Lily over. Most attempts ended in a short stay in the hospital wing, but he still tried.

Lily shook her head lightly, "No, I don't think so. He seemed so genuine, I can always tell when he's lying to me. He does this thing with the corner of his mouth. This time though, he didn't do it." She looked between them both, and they looked genuinely interested. "Before he left, he told me that he knew I was upset with him being head boy, but that he hoped we would be able to work closely together even if I despise him."

"Awww." Alice sighed. "That's really nice."

"I know." Lily replied, her eyes leaking venerability and confusion.

"It sounds legit," Chloe said, "I must say, I never thought it would actually happen. I never thought he'd grow up." The other girls nodded their agreement.

"This puts me in such a difficult situation though," Lily continued, "How do I act toward him? I can't keep up what we had before if he's different, I'll have to be nice to him. And what then?"

"What are you so scared of? Falling for him?" Alice asked her.

"Exactly." Lily said timidly, "What if he's so nice and different and acceptable, that I end up falling for him."

"I don't see a problem with that." Chloe replied, "If he's matured and you end up liking him, what's wrong with that?"

"Don't you see?" Lily asked, "It's because he doesn't _actually_ like me. I'm the only girl he can't get, and that makes him want me. He doesn't want me because he likes me, he wants me to prove a point: that he can get me."

Alice tutted loudly. "I think that's nonsense."

"Yeah," Chloe added, "I think he cares about you much more then you give him credit for." Alice nodded along with her words.

"But how am I supposed to know the difference? How am I supposed to know it's not all just a game, just for the chase. Hypothetically speaking of course." Lily asked.

"Well," Alice started, "hypothetically speaking, if you did fall for him, you'd just have to give him a chance and see. If it was just a game to him and he leaves you, you'll have to cross that bridge when you come to it, and we will always be there to help you get over him. However, if it isn't just a game to him, you might just find the person you were meant to be with." She finished wisely, scooting across the seat to pat Lily's arm.

"It's all about risks and benefits." Chloe added.

"Exactly, would you stop yourself from being with someone who could love you more than anyone else, because you're afraid of getting hurt?" Alice enquired, "Because the Lily Evans I know is fearless, and a broken heart would only make her stronger."

Lily shrugged, she knew they were right, "I've never been in love before, I can't imagine how I would feel if I lost that." She looked between them, "I have the best friends." She grinned, before changing her tune. "Anyway, the thought of me ever dating Potter is ridiculous, let alone me falling in love with him."

Chloe sighed, when would she ever actually see what was right in front of her face? James and Lily would fit together so well, like an enzyme and its substrate, if only she stopped denying him. Everybody in Hogwarts knew it, even the teachers. Maybe that was why Dumbledore made James head boy, so he could finally get Lily to fall in love with him.

"Game of exploding snap anyone?" Lily asked suddenly, extinguishing Chloe's thoughts. The girls whiled away the remainder of the train journey competing against each other with the dishevelled and burnt snap cards. As usual, Chloe won, and all of them came away with singed sleeves, ties or fingers, and in Alice's case, half a missing left eyebrow.

* * *

><p>James slid the compartment door close, and stood against it for a few moments, half hoping that Lily would come after him. She didn't, of course. He felt good though, his new persona had really made an impact on Lily. She had called him by his first name more times in the last half an hour than she had ever done before. At one point she even smiled at him. He closed his eyes and remembered her pearly teeth and rosy lips slanted upwards in a smile. How he'd love to kiss that mouth, to stroke her milky face with his fingers, to make her his. He regained his senses just in time to scold a third year who went whizzing past him on a magical scooter.<p>

"Clark, get off that thing and give it to me." He said with authority. The younger boy groaned, but hopped off the scooter and handed it to him reluctantly. "I would take points off, but as we haven't even got to Hogwarts yet, I'll just confiscate this till the Christmas holidays."

"Till Christmas?" The boy yelped, "But-"

"No buts," James quipped, "Be lucky you're not getting a detention, now go back to your compartment and don't let me hear a peep out of you again." The boy ran off, and James half hoped Lily had heard how brilliantly he had handled that.

With a bit less swagger than usual, he started off down the corridor, pushing the scooter with him. It was a long walk to his compartment, and he regretted getting on at the end of the train. Still, it gave him more time to indent Lily's perfect smile in his memory. Thank Merlin for his photographic memory.

Sliding open his compartment door, he wheeled the scooter in dramatically. Remus had obviously already enlightened Sirius and Peter on his attitude at the meeting, and Lily's response to the new and improved James Potter, as they all sat with goofy smiles adorning their faces. Sirius' smile faltered as he spotted the scooter.

"What on earth is that, Prongs?" He asked.

"Magical scooter." James said, matter of factly, as he watched Sirius' face light up like a firework.

"Are you kidding?" The shaggy haired boy bellowed, "That's marvellous, where did you get it?"

James sat down, his muscled arm still propping up the scooter. "Confiscated it from Thomas Clark in third year." This earned him a small smile from Remus.

"Let's have a go!" Peter exclaimed.

"I call first dibs!" Sirius retorted.

"I'm pretty sure Prongs didn't confiscate it so you two could use it." Remus interrupted.

"No I didn't." James agreed, taking out his wand and silently reducing the scooter so it would fit in his pocket.

"Sorry Grandad." Sirius said dejectedly.

"Since when did you become a bore?" Peter asked James.

James shrugged. "Since I got responsibility." He pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Since he finally got up the redhead's ass more like." Sirius mumbled under his breath, earning a chuckle from Peter. James scowled.

"Anyone care for a game of chess?" Remus asked, and after a general consent from the others, he stood to collect his tattered chess board from his trunk. Whilst his back was turned, a grinning James passed a miniature scooter to a grinning Sirius, who winked and shoved it into his breast pocket.

* * *

><p>As an afternote, I have quite a lot of the next chapter already written and edited, I'd really appreciate if you could take the time to review so I can gauge how frequently I should update (if you guys want me to update at all). Thanks, and I have some awesome LJ fluff planned. :)

Thanks for reading!

Jess :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The chatter of students grew louder as the scarlet steam engine slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade station. First years sat in wonder, their noses pressed against the glass as they got their first look at the magnificent castle. Returning sat on the edge of their seats, eager to get to the start of term feast, their stomachs rumbling loudly. The Marauders were looking forward to their start of term prank, whilst the Slytherins were dreading it. Lily and her friends looked forward to spending time in good company, and learning more about the magical world.

"Will you be able to come up with us?" Alice asked, as she helped Lily take all their trunks down from the overhead storage.

"I don't think so, I'm going to have to help direct the first years and make sure all the other years get into the carriages safely." Lily replied with a dampened voice.

"Fiddlesticks." Chloe chimed, as she dragged her trunk out of the cabin door, almost flattening a second year. "Watch where you're going!" She cried, as the second year scurried away as quickly as possible. "You'll see us at the feast though, right?" She finished.

"Of course I will!" Was the response, as the girls made their way off the train. Lily dragged her trunk to the side, as Chloe and Alice made their slow progress toward the horseless carriages.

"Save me a seat." Lily called after them.

"Will do, captain." Chloe shouted back, before the two of them were swallowed into the sea of black cloaks.

Lily spun on the spot. "First years!" She bellowed, making the people closest to her jump. "First years over here please." A gaggle of small children made their way over to her shyly. When she had a large enough crowd she called "Follow me," and led them toward Hagrid, the gamekeeper, and the docked boats. She saw Potter doing the same thing from further down the platform.

"Hello Hagrid." Lily smiled up at the giant man, his young eyes bright, "How was your summer?"

"Aye, was alreet, nice t'be back at work alrigh'?" Came the gruff reply, scaring some of the first years, who began to whisper amongst themselves.

"I know what you mean," Lily laughed, "I know exactly what you mean."

* * *

><p>After around twenty minutes, the platform had cleared and the queue for the carriages had dwindled to the last few stragglers who were now piling into the same coach. The first years had set sail, and Lily and James were just finishing slamming all of the train doors closed. They met in the middle.<p>

"Think we're safe to go to the feast now?" James asked.

Lily wiped her brow with the back of her sleeve. "I think so." She said, doing a last minute once over to make sure nobody was left on the platform. "Come on." She finished, walking over to her trunk and starting to heave the thing along the platform.

"Here, let me." James said, taking the handle from her and dragging it along behind him with ease.

Lily's eyes narrowed. "Where's yours?" She asked stupidly.

James didn't meet her gaze, but stared straight ahead as they ambled along together. "Sirius and Remus took it up to the castle with them." He said simply. She took the opportunity to look at him curiously. She'd never really looked at him before. Not really, and not from this angle. His face had filled out since sixth year, and he had new glasses.

"You have new glasses." She stated, berating herself immediately afterwards for such a stupid remark.

He looked at her then, the corners of his mouth quirking up at the end. He didn't do his typical lopsided smile, the one that angered her, and the one she expected. "Yes, Sirius broke my others in a rather er… irreparable manner." His voice was warm and smooth, like hot chocolate.

"Well, they're nice." She said, for a lack of anything else to say.

He looked back the way they were heading. "Thank you." He murmured. To be honest, he couldn't have been more surprised. Since when did Lily notice anything he did, and since when did she like anything about him. He'd never lose these glasses, he'd never let anything bad happen to them, Lily liked them. His stomach did flip flops as she watched him. He'd never really been this close to her before without her screaming at him, and now she was walking alongside him, looking up at him curiously. His palms were moist with sweat.

"I'm surprised you noticed." He commented.

"Why?" She asked, "I've seen you enough times to know what your glasses look like."

He faltered. That was true. But still, she had said they were nice. He opened the carriage door and indicated for her to climb in first. 'Because you never notice.' He said to himself. He pushed her trunk in and clambered in last, clicking the door shut and taking a seat opposite her.

He had absolutely no idea what to say. James Potter, man of many words, was suddenly at a loss at the most inappropriate time. What are you supposed to say to an angel? More importantly, what are you supposed to say to Lily Evans without making her mad at you? He stared pointedly out of the window as he thought desperately of general chit chat he could turn into a conversation.

Lily sat with her hands in her lap, staring at the floor. Without their constant arguments, it was awkward. There was so much to say, and yet neither of them wanted to say it. She cleared her throat. "So you said you went fishing?" She asked.

'Halleluiah, something to ease the tension', James thought as he looked into her entrancing eyes. "Yeah." He said animatedly. "My dad taught us, although I'm really bad at it, I just don't have the patience. Sirius was surprisingly good."

Lily smiled. "I thought you were a very patient person." He would have to be to put up with her all those years. "But I can't imagine Black being a good fisherman."

He disregarded her second statement. "Was that a compliment, Lily?" He asked with a grin.

"No." She said shortly, nose in the air. "It was an observation."

"I'm going to take it as a compliment, though." He chuckled.

"As you wish." She eyed him. "If you think that's a compliment, then you obviously don't get complimented enough."

"Well, not by you." He stated, staring her dead in the eye.

"Yes… well… you…" She stuttered uncomfortably. She didn't compliment him because she had never seen anything in him worth a compliment. The carriage jerked to a stop, thankfully, distracting the both of them. Lily flung open the door, as James pushed her trunk out, and wheeled it over to the stack of trunks waiting to be taken into the castle.

"Thanks." Lily said, indicating the trunk.

"It's really not a problem." He replied suavely, and they were back to that polite and formal exchange of sentences.

They walked in silence into the castle and turned right into the great hall. The first years hadn't arrived just yet, and the noise from the students was deafening. Lily looked up at the head table, and Dumbledore gave them a smile and a nod.

She spotted her friends, and the seat they had saved for her. They motioned for her to come and sit with them. She looked up at James, shrugging in her friends general direction, "I'll see you later." She told him, "And thanks again for helping me with my trunk."

"As I said, not a problem." He replied, "See you." And he watched her scurry towards her friends. Taking her lead, he headed over to the other Marauders, noticing the interested looks from some of the girls, and took his seat next to Peter.

"So, you two looked pretty cosy," Sirius grinned mischievously, "What's that I hear?" He cupped his hand around his ear, "Oh, it's the sound of wedding bells."

James kicked his shin lightly under the table. "She doesn't like me like that, not yet anyway, maybe soon." He grinned, "I don't know, but she hasn't shouted at me yet!"

"I want the food to come so we can see the prank work!" Peter whined.

"All in good time, Wormtail." Remus responded.

"You did the prank without me?" James groaned.

"Yes, you were too busy making love children with a little redhe-" Sirius laughed.

"I was not making love children with her." James interjected forcefully, "I was doing my duties!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow and put his hands up in defeat, "If that's what you want to call it Prongs, doing your 'duty'," He said, air quoting with his fingers, "then that's fine by us."

"Will you two quit it, Dumbledore's standing up." Remus chastised.

James sent death glares to Sirius, before staring up at the elderly headmaster. The great hall became eerily silent in a matter of seconds.

"Welcome, welcome to you all." Dumbledore began, "We shall start, of course, with the sorting. Bring them in, please, Minerva."

The doors swung open and Professor McGonagall led a bunch of nervous looking children down the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. They congregated at the foot of the steps leading to where the teachers were seated. Professor McGonagall read out the formalities and explained the sorting to the first years, and James watched them one by one as they climbed up and timidly put the old hat upon their heads. He clapped and cheered when someone was sorted into Gryffindor, and booed along with many others when someone was sorted into Slytherin. He was jealous of them, in a way. They were just starting their Hogwarts journey, as his was coming to a close.

At the end, McGonagall cleared away the hat as Dumbledore stood up once more. "Welcome, Welcome to Hogwarts." He said merrily, his beard wobbling as he spoke. "Before we eat, I must remind all of you that the Forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students," James swore Dumbledore looked expressly at the four of them, "and that there are a number of forbidden articles, of which you are unable to use here in the castle. A list of these can be obtained from Argus Filch."

Filch, who was about thirty, gave a short hand gesture to indicate that it was him who would give out the lists.

"Finally, to you all, would a fly without wings be called a walk?" He asked, retreating straight afterwards to his chair and clapping his hands twice in quick succession. The food erupted in front of them all, and a few gasped and applauded.

"Mad as a hatter" Sirius barked, as he fought to get as much food on his plate as possible.

* * *

><p>"Oh thank Merlin." Alice said with delight, "I was sure I was about to pass out any minute now from hunger." She exclaimed as she piled a mountain of food onto her plate.<p>

"Amen to that, Sister!" Chloe agreed, ripping off the top of a bread roll with her teeth.

Lily laughed at her. "Honestly Chloe, you're worse than Black!" She commented, and they all peered down the table to where Sirius was sitting, his face covered in food debris. James was laughing heartily at him, and Lily felt a strange emotion come over her.

"You're seriously calling me as bad as him?" Chloe said astounded.

Lily winced, "I retract my comment." She grinned.

"Good." Chloe finished, as she tucked into her food once more. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" She said, her mouth half full.

"Firstly, ew that was disgusting, I just saw your half chewed food, and secondly, yes I am, I'm just not that hungry for some reason." Lily answered, wondering how she could not be hungry.

Alice's jaw dropped. "Lily, we haven't eaten for at least twelve hours, how can you not be hungry?"

Chloe gulped dramatically, "I bet it's to do with James."

Lily looked at her sharply. "This has nothing to do with Potter," She reprimanded, as she poured pumpkin juice into all of their goblets.

"Sure." Alice drawled sarcastically, "And my name is Ben Dover."

"Well, you have a very unfortunate name." Lily retorted. "Look let's just drop it, okay?" She asked, piling food onto her plate for the show of it. She didn't want to have to think about James anymore tonight, he had already confused her little brain enough for one day.

A sudden high-pitched shriek caught her attention, and the trio turned in unison to look toward the Slytherin table, where a second year girl was spitting brutally onto the floor.

"What the?" Lily questioned, as her eyes scanned the rest of the green clad table. Almost all of them looked queasy, and not one of them was eating. Her eyes settled on Severus, who had pushed his plate of chicken away in disgust, and was hastily consuming as much pumpkin juice as was physically possible.

The great hall was enveloped in complete silence for a full thirty seconds, until one by one, each Slytherin began to sprout vibrantly coloured hair whilst their skin turned bright yellow. It reminded Lily of a blind family who all had severe jaundice. The hall erupted in laughter, and some students even stood on the benches to get a better view. It didn't take long for Professor Flitwick to take charge and reverse whatever charm had been placed over the food contents on the Slytherin table. The excitement died down after that.

Lily narrowed her eyes and swivelled in her seat to stare down the long table at the Marauders. Sirius had a smug look on his face, as Peter clapped him on the back. James had his head in his hands, although his cheeks were pink, evidence of his amusement.

* * *

><p>"I didn't suggest that." James reprimanded.<p>

"I made modifications." Sirius grinned.

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, the great hall was full of bloated teenagers, some resting their heads in their arms, whilst others merely groaned. The start of term feast was definitely one of those times when you had to wear the skirt you bought with an elasticated waistband, Lily thought.<p>

Gryffindor table was a mess. Food debris littered the wood whilst the platters were empty. One lonely piece of chocolate torte sat in front of Chloe.

"Stop it." Chloe muttered, groaning as she rested her hands on her belly.

"I didn't do anything." Alice responded, her head falling onto Lily's shoulder.

"Not you silly, the torte." Chloe replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh-oh." Lily grinned, "What did the torte do this time? Don't tell me it's been calling your mother names again." Alice sniggered.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Behave Evans, it's just there, looking at me." She fixed her gaze on it. "Don't you see it looking at me? It wants me to eat it, it's practically calling out for me to eat it." She shielded the view with her hand.

"Chloeeee, eat meeee." Alice cooed in a high pitched voice as all the girls fell about laughing.

"Ow, okay, laughing whilst being unbelievably full is not fun." Lily observed, pushing her empty plate further away from her, as though more food was going to appear on it at any second.

Just then, a strange hand delved into their peaceful little trio and clasped around the remaining slice of chocolate torte.

"So mine." Sirius Black said, before scurrying back to his seat, torte in hand.

"Oi!" Chloe yelled after him, "I was about to eat that."

"No you weren't." Lily said exasperatedly.

"How do you know?" Chloe challenged, "I could have eaten it."

"Chloe," Lily answered, in the tone she reserved for small children, "Five minutes ago you said you'd never eat again, and that even a sip of pumpkin juice would make you explode."

Chloe raised her eyebrow, "Yeah well that was five minutes ago," She flicked her blonde curls over her shoulder, "This is now."

"Leave it Lily," Alice laughed, "She's a lost cause." Chloe scowled.

"And now," Rang a warm voice. All three girls swivelled uncomfortably to stare up at the heads table, where Dumbledore was standing, wand pointed at his throat to magnify his voice. "I believe it is time for bed. Timetables will be handed out at breakfast tomorrow, first years please follow your house prefect to your respective dormitories. I bid thee goodnight." And with that, the hall erupted in noise, first years jumped up as a swell of students congregated near the door.

Lily took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and stood. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then." She said to the girls. When they looked at her curiously, she expanded, "I'm going to have head duties to do now, and then I'll be in the private dormitory."

"How could I forget!" Chloe exclaimed as Alice pouted. "Have a good night Lily, don't have world war three before we get to see the fancy private common room." She winked.

Lily laughed, "I'll try my hardest." And with that, she fought her way down the gap between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, to where James was getting to his feet. Her eyes scanned his friends. Remus had already left to chaperone the first years to Gryffindor tower, Sirius had chocolate torte all over his face and hands, and Peter was looking up at her mesmerized.

"You ready?" James asked her, swatting Peter's shoulder with the back of his hand. She met his eyes and nodded.

"Miss Evans, Mr Potter?" A rich voice called from behind them. Lily wheeled around to find Dumbledore standing before her, hands clasped, rocking on the back of his feet.

"Yes Professor." Lily replied, as James climbed over the table bench.

"I would like the two of you to go straight to my office, we have some business to attend to before you retire to your private dormitory. I will meet you there shortly, the password is chocolate frog, a rather favourite of mine." He informed them, his eyes twinkling behind the half-moon spectacles. Lily smiled at him.

"Yes sir, we'll go right away." James said, smoothing down his robes.

Dumbledore gave them both a pleasant smile, bid them goodbye, and wandered back toward the head table.

"I'll see you later guys." James said to his friends, his eyes landing on Sirius. "Padfoot, make sure you shower before touching anything. Remember what happened last time."

Sirius grinned and began licking the torte off his fingers, "Whatever you say, Prongs."

James rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lily." He said, dismissing his friends and falling into step next to the redhead. The unusual couple managed to push through the crowd swarming around the double doors, which diminished once in the entrance hall. They climbed the steps quickly and headed off to Dumbledore's office, leaving the heaving body of pupils behind.

They walked in silence for a while. James could feel his own heart beating as he watched Lily walk from the corner of his eye. He had to admit, he didn't expect it to be this way. He expected Lily to curse the ground he walked on, to constantly argue with him, to even go as far as refusing to work with him. He had never expected her to walk next to him, willingly, even if it was in silence. Maybe, just maybe things could work out this year. Maybe they could become friends, and she'd finally see the real James, the man who was madly in love with her. Despite what he had told his friends, he still held hope that Lily would finally be his this year.

"What happened last time?" She asked suddenly. The melodic timbre of her voice sending chills down his spine.

He looked down at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

She met his gaze, and like usual, he felt the fireworks explode in his stomach. Lily's eyes always reminded him of a distant emerald isle surrounded by a rim of turquoise sea. They were so beautiful, so deep, so entrancing.

"What you said to Black before, about something happening last time." She probed, and a look shot across her face, as though she wondered why she was even asking him.

He smiled, "I'm sure you've noticed that Sirius has a tendency to get, er, how to phrase it – messy." Lily nodded. "Last time he had a whole chocolate torte, he managed to stick two pages of Moony's favourite book together, permanently stain Wormtail's bed hangings, much to the disdain of the house elves, and vomited in my trunk. All in all it was a horrific experience for everyone involved."

Lily snorted with laughter, the kind that was infectious. James laughed along with her, watching as her cheeks grew pink. She had the most beautiful laugh, and he was saddened that he had never heard it before now, not up close and personal like this.

"I can't believe," She said through chuckles, "how disgusting that is. He really vomited in your trunk?"

James nodded, "Seriously. Over all my stuff. I still have nightmares about it."

The couple rounded the corner and paused opposite the stone gargoyle that blocked the way to Dumbledore's office.

"Chocolate frog." Lily said with her voice as warm as honey, her cheeks still coloured salmon.

James watched as the inanimate piece of chiselled granite sprung to life, sliding aside to grant them access to the winding staircase. Together, they climbed onto the first stone step, and let the stairs move them with ease up to the office above. James had been in Dumbledore's office many times before, more often than not he had done some obscene offence with Sirius usually in toe. It was a pleasant change, for once, not to enter this room knowing full well that, potentially, he could be expelled. He gestured for Lily to take the first seat, and she did so, eyeing him wearily.

He followed her lead and settled himself in the other armchair, fully aware of Lily's gaze. He immediately felt awkward. What was he supposed to do with his hands? Whatever position they fell in felt uncomfortable or not quite right. Was his breathing irregular, too fast? No… now it was shallow, rough. He fought the desire to run his hand through his hair, knowing that she hated the habit.

"Why are you staring at me?" He finally asked, sliding his gaze to meet her wonderful orbs. Her face was pale once more, and she had raised a single, neat, auburn eyebrow.

"I'm wondering why," She started meekly.

"Why what?" James probed, his lust for her building dangerously high in that moment.

In all honesty, Lily was wondering why he seemed so different, and why she even cared. The confusion of it all angered her.

"Why you pulled a prank already." She lied. James felt his stomach plummet. "We hadn't even been in the castle an hour, and already, you managed to ruin the evening for everyone in Slytherin. Didn't you see the looks on the faces of the first years? They looked distraught."

"Lily, I swear it wasn't me, I was with you the whole time." James defended, but Lily shook her head.

"No, it always comes down to being you in the end. Teachers can never prove it, but we all know." She said, her voice void of emotion.

Ouch. That stung. James looked at her strangely, he didn't know if this argument taking place without raising decibels was a good thing or a bad thing. Lily had looked away from him now, as though she was disappointed.

"Lily, you don't have to believe me, but I honestly didn't execute that prank. I can't speak for my friends, but I couldn't possibly have done it when I was with you." His eyes pleaded with her.

"Just because you didn't execute it, doesn't mean you didn't take part." She looked back to him then, and James got the strange sensation that she could see into his soul, that she knew everything.

"Based on past experiences," She stated coldly, and he flinched, "That sort of prank has James Potter written all over it in size one hundred font."

James looked like a deer caught in headlights. This was not the way he expected their first evening to turn. It seemed he couldn't do anything right.

"Well, yes. I'll admit I gave Padfoot the idea, but how was I to know he would implement it, and add to it." James stated, defensively.

"There you go with the childish nicknames again." She scolded. "I thought you said you were growing up."

James frowned then, "Just because you don't understand them, Lily, doesn't mean I'm going to stop using them. I am growing up, and from my perspective, I don't think I'm the only one who needs to."

"Well, if-" Lily began, seething, but she was cut short by the sound of the grinding staircase. Both heads turned to stare over the backs of their chairs as Dumbledore's pointed hat came to view, slowly giving way to their headmaster. He smiled warmly as he saw both seventh years seated, and opened his hands in welcome as he crossed the short distance to seat himself behind his desk. Their faces followed him as he walked.

Once comfortable, Dumbledore leaned forward, placed his fingertips together, and observed the two pensively for a few moments. Lily and James shared a mutual look. The silence had just begun to get uncomfortable, when Dumbledore finally spoke.

"Firstly, I'd like to offer the both of you my sincerest congratulations. You were the most outstanding candidates for head boy and girl, and to gain this title is an exceptional achievement." He smiled briefly at James, who severely questioned how he could have been an 'outstanding candidate'.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you both that I am fully aware of your rather complex history," He looked from James to Lily, "And I hope that despite this, you can both find it in yourselves to resolve your personal issues for the benefit of the school. Conflict between the head boy and girl only leads to conflict between the students." Lily gulped guiltily.

"Will you both be able to put your differences behind you?" He queried.

James nodded quickly, "Yes sir, of course." Dumbledore inclined his head slightly, and both males looked toward Lily.

"I don't see that there will be a problem." She replied smoothly. James' chest swelled as he heard her words.

Dumbledore clapped his hands, causing them both to jump. "Fantastic, well let's get down to business then." And with that, they started to discuss the complexities of the head duties, things that have worked well in the past, strategies they could implement for team building and managing their own personal stress.

"And I want you both to remember, in all seriousness, NEWT year is extremely stressful and should you feel yourself start to slip or struggle, I want you to come and seek my advice. Do not jeopardise your own success. Am I clear?" Dumbledore finished, when both heads nodded, he stood abruptly. The two students followed suit.

"Before you leave, may I ask you one thing?"

"Of course, Professor." James replied.

"The daily prophet will want to write an article on the new prefects and heads elected, with your permission, I would like to take a photograph to feature in the article." Dumbledore told them.

They both acquiesced, and moved together by the fireplace. James put his hand on the small of Lily's back and the both of them smiled at Dumbledore, who had brought out an extremely old looking camera. There was a blinding flash, and Lily moved away from James' warmth immediately.

"Thank you, that is all. You must be looking forward to a good night's rest." They nodded in unison at this, "The entrance to your common room is opposite the portrait of Prince Raleus on the sixth floor. The password is ghoul. Goodnight, and I look forward to working with you both."

They recognised the dismissal, thanked Dumbledore, and made their way to the staircase. Lily was in the lead and had already disappeared from sight when James heard Dumbledore clear his throat. He turned, to see the headmaster smiling, the usual twinkle in his eye. "You are welcome, Mr Potter." James grinned bashfully, Dumbledore knew of his plight for Lily, had he made him head boy just to give him the opportunity of finally getting her to fall for him? Even so, it didn't matter now. With a curt nod, he replied "Goodnight, headmaster," and with that, he followed Lily down the stairs.

She was waiting for him at the bottom, her back pressed against the far wall, curls cascading over her shoulders. James allowed a brief fantasy to compose itself in his mind, pushing up against her, the feel of her lips on his.

"Are you okay?" She asked, emotionless, as she twisted one of those luxurious curls around a slender finger. She had obviously not gotten over their previous disagreement.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded, desperately trying to control his teenage boyhood desire. "Are you?"

She shrugged, pushed herself from the wall and started off down the corridor. He watched her hips sway exotically, before she turned. "Well, are you coming or not?"

He smiled at her, "Of course."

They set off together, the silence shrouding the couple yet again. It gave James the opportunity to think things through. He found it difficult to keep up with his thoughts when Lily was around. She made everything hazy, but in a good way. All the little things mattered, the blink of her eye, the tug of her lips, the hollow of her neck. Every bloody movement. How did she not feel this attraction? It was unbearable. He didn't understand how he could have thought, for even a single second, on giving up on this angel. He had to make her see, he just had too, or he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

"It should be right around here," He tuned into Lily speaking, and realised that they were still trying to find their dormitories. "Aren't you supposed to be a Marauder? I thought you knew this school like the back of your hand." She said suspiciously.

James laughed nervously, his hand jumping to the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry, I was lost in thought. It's just over here." She followed him to a painting of three wizards hats in a row, opposite the portrait of the Prince that Dumbledore had told them about.

James cleared his throat, and like magic, which of course it was, the three hats were elevated from the ground as their respective owners appeared beneath them. All three were wizards, two of them balding, and one with a grey bushy beard.

"Well hello there," The fattest one said in a thick Scottish accent. "New head students, eh?"

"Where, where?" Asked the other portly wizard, also with a distinctive Scottish tongue.

"Honestly Alfred, you really need to keep tabs on where you put your glasses." The skinny wizard said exasperatedly, pulling a pair of rounded spectacles out of the frame and into the picture. He slid them onto the Alfred's nose.

"Ah," Said Alfred, "Thank you Glen." He blinked up at Lily and James, and his brown eyes widened in recognition. "Ah, Mr Potter, how lovely to see you again. And tell me," His eyes landed on Lily, "who is your beautiful lady friend?"

James chuckled, "Hello Alfred, this is Lily Evans, she's head girl."

"Oh really," Said Glen, impressed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Evans."

Lily, who had been watching the whole dialogue with apprehension, let her facial features soften. "The pleasure is all mine." She spoke sweetly.

All three wizards smiled at her. It was as James always said, you couldn't help but fall in love with Lily Evans.

"I suppose you have the password?" The unnamed wizard asked.

"We sure do Eddy, it's ghoul." James informed him suavely.

"Bingo." Alfred smiled. There was a sound, like a latch swinging free, and the portrait swung forward. The wall expanded, making an arch which lead to their own personal tower.

"Ladies first." James said, and Lily didn't need telling twice. She almost flew through the arch and into the most beautiful common room she had ever seen. It was decorated exactly like the Gryffindor one, but much smaller. The fire was crackling merrily, the hearth beneath it slightly singed from some encounter years ago. The plush sofa was adorned with blankets and cushions, whilst a variety of light snacks lay in a basket on the antique coffee table. Along one wall sat two desks, separated by a bookshelf which was already packed with literature.

Lily gasped and ran her fingers along the spines of the books, some of which she noted, were definitely from the restricted section.

"Lily, look here!" James called. She turned toward the sound of his voice. He was standing in the middle of two open French doors, the breeze causing the soft white material of the curtains to dance. She made her way over to him, her mouth dropping.

"We have a balcony!" She squealed. "I can't believe it, this is amazing."

James grinned at her. "Let's check out our rooms." He said in an excited tone, racing her to the solitary staircase across from the balcony. They both took the stairs two at a time, and after reaching the top, were faced with two identical doors facing each other. Lily fingered the etching of her name on the door to her right.

"On the count of three?" James whispered. Lily nodded her approval.

"One." She said, her eyes wide.

"Two." He added.

"Three." They said together. The two doors were flung open, and an audible gasp emanated from both heads.

"Wow." James exclaimed, walking into his Gryffindor style bedroom, quidditch posters littering the walls, his trunk already at the foot of his gigantic scarlet fourposter.

"Incredible." Lily breathed. Her room was much more elegant, decorated as a French boudoir, with gold satin hangings and light blue drapes. An assortment of pillows and comforters lay atop her fourposter bed, whilst pieces of exquisite furniture had been spotted about the room.

James made his way over to her. "Lily, this is beautiful." He told her sincerely.

"It's what I always wanted." She whispered with wide eyes, the childish excitement plaguing her thoughts and distilling the madness she still felt for him. "What's yours like?"

"Just like home." James grinned. "Anyway, I'm going to bed, it's about time we got some sleep. Goodnight Lily, sweet dreams."

"Goodnight." Came the reply, and Lily watched him click the door close softly behind him. Despite their argument and the many questions that rose from it, it took neither of them long to fall soundly asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: So I haven't updated in years - this is due to a couple of reasons, my degree and work etc, but mostly it's because I absolutely hate this chapter. It's a fill in for the exciting things that will be happening in the next few chapters, but is no where close to the standard I am used too. So, I can only say sorry, I've reviewed this chapter so many times and not been able to improve it, so I've just uploaded it as it is. At least now I can get onto the better chapters.

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><p>Lily blinked hazily when she awoke the following morning. A smile adorned her face as she remembered the events of the previous day, and that she was waking for the first time in her own personal bedroom. She rolled over, enjoying the silence. No Alice snoring. No Chloe throwing tennis ball's against the wall. Apart from the birds singing outside, there was complete silence.<p>

She stretched and swung her legs out of the bed, stuffing her feet into her fluffy slippers. It was probably best to get up, considering all the things she had to do today. She flippantly walked over to her bedroom door, stretching along the way, and casually opened it, meaning to use the bathroom facilities. Unfortunately, at precisely the same moment, James Potter opened his door too. He looked particularly dishevelled, although Lily doubted if she looked much better.

"Morning." She yawned lazily, without effort.

It wasn't until she focused on his face that she noticed his widened eyes and slightly ajar mouth. He wasn't looking at her face, but rather concentrating on her torso. She looked down and was mortified to realise that she was in a nightgown... A rather see-through nightgown, that didn't leave much to the imagination. She jumped, and hid behind the solid oak of her bedroom door, peaking her head out to glare at him.

"Don't you have a_ shred_ of decency Potter?!" She shrieked.

"I think I've got a bit more than you at the moment." James laughed, "Go ahead, you can use the bathroom first." And with that, he returned to his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"Pig." Lily muttered, before groaning and bumping her head against the door frame. This was absolutely the worst start to any day she had ever had. Cautiously, she shimmied around the door and sprang into the bathroom before Potter could have another chance to take a peak.

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><p>"And here he comes, head boy, quidditch captain, stealer of hearts." Sirius called loudly as James walked down the gap in the house tables to reach his three friends. "Tell me," He continued jovially, as James grew closer "have you bedded the red head yet?"<p>

James slapped Sirius on the back, as he took a seat next to him. "How boring your life must be, Padfoot, if all you do is sit and think about mine." He replied, pulling some toast onto his plate.

"That wasn't a no, though." Sirius commented, raising an eyebrow.

James laughed, "Nothing happened. She's more likely to murder me than kiss me." He patted himself down in mock worry, "And well, I'm still all here so I'm pretty sure nothing of note happened last night." Sirius snorted in response.

"How's your room then, Prongs?" Peter asked, still chewing on his breakfast. All the Marauders had been into the Heads living quarters numerous times. Sirius had womanized one of the head girls back in fifth year, who had given him the password so that he might visit her. Instead, when he was sure both of the heads were busy in the castle, he used the room as a meeting place for the Marauders to plan pranks in privacy. They were all aware that the common room and bedrooms changed style depending on which students were living there.

"Marvellous," Replied James, "Its Gryffindor style with quidditch posters everywhere." He smiled at them "Just what I wanted."

"Excellent," responded Sirius with a grin, "I can't wait to check it out."

"Speaking about quidditch," Said Remus, his tone serious "We lost quite a few players last year, when are you thinking about having try outs?"

James pondered this for a moment, "Probably next Wednesday, want to get them in early so we can start practicing straight away." Remus nodded in agreement.

Sirius, who was a beater for Gryffindor, and a rather spectacular one at that piped up, "I bet that Bishop kid auditions again." He spied the girl in question down the end of the table.

"And what would be so wrong with that?" Remus asked.

James sighed, "She has no idea how to fly or handle a broom, she only comes so that she can meet the team."

"She gets really touchy." Sirius winced, earning a chuckle from James.

"Here comes Minnie." Peter warned.

"Good morning Professor McGonagall." James greeted politely as Minerva approached the four boys.

"Yes Potter," Professor McGonagall started, "I need both you and Miss Evans to organise a prefect meeting for after school today." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, as though she too were suspicious as to how he had become head boy.

"Of course, Professor." James replied.

"The rota needs writing and," She fumbled through a stack of paper resting in her arms, "speaking of rotas, here are your class schedules." She handed out the schedules to each of the boys, and with a curt nod and another glare at James, continued her walk down the table.

"Double transfiguration first." James noted, grinning. All four boys had taken similar subjects and were together for the majority of classes, except for Remus who had taken ancient runes. "This is turning out to be a fine day." He commented, draining his goblet of pumpkin juice and staring up the Gryffindor table, where professor McGonagall was deep in conversation with Lily. Whom he had seen practically naked this morning. He grinned.

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><p>Lily jumped slightly as a crumpled up piece of paper landed on her desk in transfiguration. She made sure McGonagall had her back turned before she smoothed the paper out. Chloe's neat cursive was penned across the top of the sheet. She nudged Alice, who read the note along with her.<p>

'_Didn't we learn about this last year? I'm dying over here, and I'm pretty sure Patrick O'Toole forgot to use deodorant this morning.'_

Lily suppressed a laugh, dipped her quill in her ink pot and wrote a reply.

'_No, last year we learnt about transfiguring others into animals, not about Animagi. Sorry about O'Toole, not much I can do there. He can't smell that bad, it's only the first day of term.'_

She charmed the note to fly back over to Chloe's desk, and saw the girl shake her head as she read the response. A few moments later, the parchment was back on her desk.

'_No, I insist. It's really bad. So bad I think I can taste it.'_

Lily grimaced and thought for a moment.

'_Try 'constodour', it'll stop you from smelling.' _She replied and charmed the note back to Chloe. She saw the blond girl trying out the charm, and received a thumbs up in response.

Chloe scrawled once more on the parchment, and skilfully threw it back over to Lily._ 'I thought you said there was nothing you could do to help. Liar. Thanks though, that's worked a treat.'_

Lily smiled over at Chloe and folded the parchment in half, returning her attention to Professor McGonagall. When she looked down to continue her note taking, she noticed another screwed up piece of parchment sitting on her desk. She smoothed it out and spent a few minutes trying to decode the scrawl that was written there. It was clearly Sirius' handwriting.

'_Don't you know that writing notes in class is bad.'_

Lily frowned, '_Then isn't your note counterproductive?_' She replied and lobbed the note over her shoulder, knowing Sirius would charm it to his desk.

'_Tut tut, what would Minnie say if she saw how the Head Girl is behaving on the first day of school?'_ Came the reply.

'_It's Professor McGonagall to you. Now leave me alone Black, I'm trying to concentrate.'_

When the note returned on her desk, it was even more battered and crumpled than before. There was clear evidence that there had been a struggle with it over at the Marauders table. She unfolded it once more and saw a new penmanship.

'_Sorry about Sirius. McGonagall wants us to organise a prefects meeting for today. How about 5pm in here and we can go through the patrol rota this lunchtime in our common room to make sure everything is sorted?'_ James wrote.

Lily grimaced as she read the reply. The last person she wanted to be around was Potter, especially after the mortifying situation this morning. She spent a few moments calming her anger from reflecting on that occurrence, then scribbled a single word on the page and threw it back to James.

'_Fine.'_

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><p>Lily checked her watch. She had been waiting for James for almost ten minutes now. How <em>dare<em> he be late, considering it was his stupid idea to have a lunchtime Head meeting. I mean, it was actually quite a good idea, but Potter would never know that she thought that.

She pushed herself off the armchair she was settled in, and crossed the common room to the French doors. She unlatched them and pulled them open. The breeze that rolled in was soothing and helped her to control her anger. Did he not know how precious her time was? She turned her head towards the portrait exit as she heard the bricks moving. Her eyes narrowed.

"Sorry I'm late." He spoke, walking into the room. He must have noticed Lily's furious expression, for he stopped and held up a basket like a peace offering. "I got food from the kitchens so we didn't have to go without."

Damn, another brilliant Potter idea. Lily's eyes softened, "Just warn me next time if I'm going to be hanging around waiting for you." She said briskly as she walked over to the basket that James had placed on the coffee table.

"No problemo." He replied, taking a seat in the chair Lily had just frequented and unwrapping a ham sandwich from the basket. Lily did the same and sat on the small sofa. "Where do we start, then?" James questioned.

Half an hour later, and Lily was about ready to rip her hair out.

"No, I've told you," James was explaining, frustrated, "I can't do patrol on Wednesdays or Saturdays as I'm hosting quidditch practice then."

"But we can't ask Katy or David as they've done the patrol the night before, and the others will also be at quidditch." Lily replied, rubbing her face with her hands.

"There won't be quidditch training if I'm not there though, Lily. I'm the captain."

"I know full well you're the captain." She seethed. "But being the captain doesn't make this situation any easier."

"It's not my fault I'm a quidditch star." James retorted angrily.

"And it's not my fault I got lumbered with you as head boy." Lily replied, jabbing her index finger towards his chest.

"Hey, I think I'm doing quite well at this so far, give me one example of where I've failed yet." James argued.

"Well... you..." Lily stammered. Truth be told, James had been doing quite well at his duties so far. Lily couldn't piece together an example of where he had neglected his duties, it had however, only been one day. "This is ridiculous, I refuse to argue further, we need to get this rota done."

* * *

><p>A week went by with James and Lily acting in a similar fashion. When they spoke in formal situations, they were polite and pleasant, amicable even. But behind closed doors, they bickered constantly. One afternoon, James meandered down the stairs from his bedroom to the common room below. Lily was laid on the sofa, her bare feet hanging over the arm of one end. She was engrossed in a book, as always.<p>

He reached the end of the stair case and cleared his voice loudly. "Lily?" He asked.

"Can't you see I'm trying to read?" Lily replied, not looking up from her book.

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He strolled over to her and took the book from her hands, laying it lightly on the table.

"Potter..." She started angrily.

James held his hands up, "Look Lily, we really need to talk." She sighed and sat up to make herself more presentable, and he took a seat on the vacated part of the sofa. "I think you know just as much as I do that we can't go on as we are." She nodded along.

He turned so his knees knocked against hers. She didn't recoil in disgust, so at least that was a bonus. "So, I'm calling a truce."

Lily breathed out heavily. "Well, I've been trying to figure out if we can actually do this, if we can work closely together despite our negative history." She cocked her head to the side, the movement was endearing. "When I found out you were head boy, I dreaded everything, because I thought you'd work as hard as you could to make a mockery out of me. To make duties even more of a struggle then they already would be. I didn't expect you to be, well," She raised her hand and gestured vaguely in his direction, "you."

James looked at her oddly, "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not."

"Need I remind you, it's an observation." She replied quickly.

"Ah yes, how could I forget." He laughed. "So what do you say, truce?" He held his hand out for her to shake.

She eyed it wearily for a moment. "Let's forget everything before. I'm just James, and you're just Lily." He persuaded.

Her lip tugged up slightly, and she shook his hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, just James."


End file.
